The SEC recently requested an emergency court action that would impose an outside monitor to oversee the private-equity firm GPB Capital Holdings LLC after years of accusations and litigation. The emergency court action followed months of trying to place a monitor, only to fail to reach an agreement with the firm voluntarily. However, in [...]
GPB has been the focus of multiple accusations that has led to the indictment of its Managing Director and CCO and class action lawsuits. The Wall Street Journal is now reporting that at least seven states, including Missouri, have filed allegations against GPB Capital Holdings alleging "massive fraud" in a "Ponzi-like scheme that fleeced [...]
The Great Recession hit General Motors (“GM”) hard, and it declared bankruptcy in 2009. The value of its bonds, which were supposed to be a safe investment, was reduced to $0. As part of its bankruptcy restructuring process, GM changed its name to Motors Liquidation Company, and GM gave Motors Liquidation Company a warrant [...]
Dividend Reinvestment Plans (DRIPs or DRIP plans) are popular products for investors who wish to take advantage of compounded dividends, often (but not always) low fees, and easy-to-execute investing. This is how it works: DRIPs are offered either through brokers or directly from the dividend-paying company. When a dividend is distributed, it is automatically [...]
When you’ve suffered investment losses due to a sudden market downturn or an asset that fails spectacularly, it is natural to feel like you need time to figure things out. You might hesitate because you feel like it’s your fault – because you didn’t understand the investment well enough, or that you should have [...]
Leveraged Exchange-Traded Notes (ETNs) are complex financial products that do not own the assets they track. Banks purchase derivatives – often in the form of options – using borrowed money to increase returns by as much as two or three times. If an asset increases in value, the investor will receive two or three [...]
After the 2008 financial crisis, many investors began looking for investment opportunities that would allow them to “catch up” on losses suffered in retirement plans. With interest rates at historic lows, traditionally “safe” investments such as bonds offered little income. Banks and brokerages began to expand and advertise Exchange-Traded Notes (ETNs) as lucrative, steady [...]
Allianz Global Investors (AGI), an investing arm of the large German insurance company Allianz SE, announced on March 25 that two of its hedge funds, managing nearly $2.3 billion, would be liquidated. The hedge funds - Structured Alpha 1000 and Structured Alpha 1000 Plus – took unexpected heavy losses in March 2020’s coronavirus stock market [...]
April 2020 - Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF)s are popular investment products that allow consumers to invest in a basket of stocks that capture certain markets or industries. When purchased knowledgeably, they can help investors diversify their portfolios or buy into an industry they believe in. ETFs also create risk by making it more difficult to see [...]
April, 2020 – In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and on top of historic stock losses, investors were hit with another record-breaking “first”: West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures went negative. For the lay person not familiar with the oil futures market, this probably makes little sense. Here’s an analogy to help: Imagine you [...]
